


Moonlight on the Snow

by UmbraTsuki



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Gift Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:34:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28308363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UmbraTsuki/pseuds/UmbraTsuki
Summary: Moonlight on the snowOutside my frozen windowLights are twinkling from myNeighbor's roofI hung out mistletoeLeft cookies by the chimneyHow could this be ChristmasWithout you?~ "How Could This Be Christmas?" by Mandy MooreRapunzel wishes to spend Christmas with the one she loves.
Relationships: Cassandra & Rapunzel (Disney: Tangled), Cassandra/Rapunzel (Disney: Tangled)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22
Collections: Cassunzel Gift Exchange 2020





	Moonlight on the Snow

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Cassunzel gift exchange, for clovermoon! I also had wanted to write a fic inspired by this song, so I felt it was the perfect opportunity.
> 
> This takes place in a modern AU that I came up with when I was brainstorming for this fic! I might expand on it in the future as well because this was really fun, but for now, I hope you enjoy!!

"Rapunzel, darling, my little flower, _please_ tell me you've got all the decorations up, hmm?"

The blonde jumped as she heard her mother's voice coming from the hallway behind her and catching her off-guard. While Rapunzel worked on putting up the usual Christmas flair around the house, her mother, Gothel, had been preparing for a day out. This kept consistent with all previous years, where Rapunzel put up decorations alone, baked cookies alone, cooked Christmas dinner alone... all while her mother came in and out, back and forth between criticizing whatever her daughter was doing and chatting with whoever her most current romantic fixation happened to be. This year, however, her mother was actually leaving the house, planning on some sort of date. She never asked for details.

"Yes, mother," Rapunzel had certainly finished, but whether or not it would meet Gothel's standards remained in question. "I'm just picking out some music now."

"Good, sweetheart," her mother replied, now close enough that the smell of flowery perfume permeated the air. She felt a kiss on her head. "It doesn't look half bad. Not sure why you put up the mistletoe," she said with a laugh, "there's not another person here!" Still chuckling, she moved about the room, examining every streamer and set of lights. "You've always had a good sense of humor."

Rapunzel's stomach did flips and she felt her face redden, so she tried to hide it by hunching farther over the set of records she was flipping through. When she put up the mistletoe, though it was a fake plastic plant, she had, in fact, been thinking of one person in particular.

Cassandra.

Rapunzel met Cassandra, or Cass, as a young girl when the other had shown up outside her window one day. Gothel didn't give her any chances to really get out and make friends, only having her leave for quick errands like shopping trips, so Rapunzel jumped at the opportunity to talk to her. (Plus her window was on a balcony, so it was a miracle Cass could get up there. It turned out, she was a _very_ skilled climber.) They always had to do it in secret, but every single moment was worth it. 

Their meetings couldn't take place daily, not even close. Sometimes there were a few days in a row where they could see each other once a day, but gaps in their hangouts always followed. The best times were when Gothel left for days for various trips she had. The worst were when Gothel got suspicious of Rapunzel, for whatever reason, and made it impossible for any chance at a secret meeting.

But the two did continue meeting regularly for years. This particular year, the 15-year mark approached. Both girls were around the same age, just a few years over 20 now. 

Rapunzel knew that, as an adult, she could technically leave to go out and live on her own whenever she wanted, but she just couldn't imagine the drama with her mother. And she knew that leaving would have to mean never, or rarely, seeing her again, as Gothel always was a very "all or nothing" sort of person. Despite her flaws, she couldn't bear the thought of totally losing her.

In the past handful of years, Rapunzel's feelings toward Cassandra shifted as the two grew older. Perhaps they'd always been this way, but it took her a while to take notice. She found herself often thinking of how beautiful the other woman was. How she wanted to touch her dark curls and feel the warmth of her skin. She'd only ever seen movies with men dating women, and she realized that it took her some extra time to work out her feelings because of this. No one ever told her that sometimes women fell in love with women, after all. But when she read stories of romance and listened to songs about falling in love, she knew she'd fallen for Cass.

And speaking of songs, she finally found the record she'd been looking for. A sweet Christmas record. Some of the songs talked about longing for a person to be there on Christmas, and Rapunzel knew the feeling. She'd felt it for years.

Ignoring her mother's eyes on her, Rapunzel put the record on and started the player. The music calmed her immediately, as music always did. It didn't seem to matter what kind, as long as Rapunzel could hear all the notes. She'd always imagine the artist behind the song and thought of the hard work they put in.

"Well, Rapunzel, sweetheart, you know I'd love to stay," Gothel began speaking, and her voice conflicted with the music. "But your mother has important plans to attend to. Keep things in order here, would you, my little sun drop?" 

Gothel's smile accompanied her use of the little nickname she often used for her daughter, one used throughout all their years together so far. The smile on Gothel's face never quite seemed to truly represent happiness, and Rapunzel always wondered if she would ever get a real smile out of her. She felt at fault, of course, being the only other person her mother lived with, and yet she could never think of a single way to improve her mother's mood. The blonde didn't know if she ever would.

"Of course, mother," Rapunzel gave her best smile back. Her mother walked out the door, and though it was only midday, Rapunzel knew she wouldn't see her until late into the night. The sound of the door clicking shut almost left the house feeling completely empty, save for the music playing from the record that provided some comfort. 

Remembering the final gift she had to wrap, Rapunzel hurried upstairs. She'd hidden the painting in her closet, behind some storage boxes. A painting on canvas of her and Cass together.

The canvas wasn't huge, but what Rapunzel hoped would be a good, portable size for her friend. She'd written two words on the bottom: "Thank you." The painting itself depicted the two of them with arms around one another's shoulders, both smiling. 

Rapunzel felt she owed a lot to the young woman. If it weren't for her, Rapunzel never would have really ever explored the random buildings or interesting streets she'd always hoped to visit. She'd never have found the beautiful bits of nature scattered throughout the neighborhood. And she certainly never would have had much company throughout her years. 

So it almost felt selfish to wish Cass were there spending Christmas with her. Still, Rapunzel couldn't help but think of how nice such a day would be. She had invited Cass in her last letter to her, as the two often exchanged letters, especially when they couldn't see each other as much. But there hadn't been time for a response, so all Rapunzel could do was hope for the best.

Once Rapunzel wrapped the gift, and hid it back in her closet just in case, she sat on her window bench, looking out at her balcony where Cass would usually come up. Today, a thin layer of snow covered it. She watched more snow fall, admiring the way each flake fluttered down toward whatever surface it would land upon. Part of her admired that sort of carefree spirit. The snow wasn't alive, of course, but she still got the sense that it carried that sort of air about it. Just falling wherever it may and settling in.

In a trance, captivated by the motion of the snow, Rapunzel dozed off, leaning against her window and falling into a light sleep.

~

A tap on the glass startled Rapunzel back into consciousness. She jumped to her feet and immediately felt her heart racing for more reasons than one, for right in front of her, on the other side of the window, stood Cassandra. Flustered, Rapunzel fumbled to get the window open and invite her quickly inside, not wanting her out in the growing amounts of snow. She was bundled up with a coat and scarf, but of course it was still cold. And to Rapunzel's surprise, even though only a few hours had passed, the sun had already set for the day.

"Cass! You're here!" Before getting a response, Rapunzel wrapped her arms around Cass in a tight hug — then, remembering that her friend doesn't particularly like contact, started backing away. "Sorry—" 

"It's okay," Cass pulled her closer again and hugged her back, a feeling of which Rapunzel would never tire. It only lasted a moment, but every moment like that was worth it. "It's not like it's the first time we've hugged."

Rapunzel giggled a bit, but she felt her face grow red as well. "I know," she smiled at Cass as the two did part. The blonde tucked some of her loose hair behind her ear and hoped she didn't look like too much of a mess. "I'm really glad you're here. I know you said you had lunch planned with your family and everything, so I had no idea if you'd get a chance to come, and I wondered if it was too selfish of me to ask, but I just really wanted to finally spend a holiday with you, you know?" Her words tumbled out without end, one after another.

"Hey, it wasn't selfish at all," Cass's voice and smile were gentle, and Rapunzel never had never needed to question the sincerity of either one. "Don't worry. I really wanted to see you, too."

That brought a huge smile to Rapunzel's face. One of her favorite things about Cassandra was how genuine the woman was. Even when they were younger, she carried an air of honesty and dedication. Her eyes, especially, were always so truthful. Though Rapunzel couldn't say she'd befriended many people (in fact, Cassandra was her only lifelong friend), Rapunzel felt she could see the difference in strangers she passed at the grocery store or on the street. In many ways, no one compared to Cass. She didn't think there were many people like Cassandra out there.

"Oh! I have a present for you!" Rapunzel bounced up and down a bit with excitement. "Here, you can sit down while I grab it." She gestured to her bed before rushing to grab the gift. 

When she turned back around, Cass had taken her coat off to reveal a red button up shirt. It looked _really_ good on her. Cassandra still remained standing, but she was looking at some of the art Rapunzel had painted on her wall. She had seen them before, but always seemed to look again each time she snuck in.

"Here!" Rapunzel sat next to her on the bed and offered the present with a smile, but butterflies still filled her stomach. What if Cass didn't like the painting? What if it was too silly? What if—

"Thank you, Raps," Cass sat down and spoke, her voice made all the negative thoughts go away for the moment. It was Cass, Rapunzel reminded herself. She could always be herself around Cass.

Cass carefully unwrapped the present, and Rapunzel watched her. Her hands were strong but beautiful at the same time. And despite her strength, she handled the gift gently, treating it as a precious object. Rapunzel felt herself holding her breath while she waited for her friend to finally see the painting.

When she did, she beamed in a way that made every moment of waiting worth it. "Wow." She stared at it for a few moments, taking in every detail, tracing her fingers over the colors. Then Cass grabbed her hand for a moment to give it a squeeze. "Really, thank you. I finally get to have a piece of your art to keep." She set it to the side for a moment before pulling a small box out of her coat pocket. "And I have this for you."

"Oh! Thank you," Rapunzel took the box in both hands, though it was small enough to fit in one. The box itself was simple but pretty. A golden yellow box with the symbol of a sun on it. She opened it to reveal a locket. A small gasp came out, and she took the locket in her fingers gently, pulling it out of the box to get a closer look. The locket took the shape of a sun and moon side by side. It was gold in color, and very pretty. 

"I figured it would be small enough to hide from uh, you know," Cass said, shrugging her shoulders. "And thought you might put a tiny artwork in there or something. It reminded me of you, and—"

Rapunzel startled her with another hug, wrapping her arms even more tightly around Cass this time, and hiding her face. She hadn't expected a gift at all, really, having been more excited about the prospect of giving Cass a gift. And her mother never really bothered with buying her pretty things. Plus they had been so careful about keeping their friendship a secret that Rapunzel had never had any physical keepsake from their relationship. Now she finally did. So many thoughts raced through her mind that she could barely think clearly enough to verbalize any of them. 

Instead, she kept it simple. "Thank you," she said, still holding on. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love it so much!" Her heart pounded, and she wondered if Cass could feel that. She hoped not. 

Cass chuckled a bit, the best sound in the world, second to her voice, and hugged her back. In Cass's arms, Rapunzel felt safe and happy. "I'm glad you like it," she said. 

After their gift exchange, Cass spent a few hours with Rapunzel. She did keep checking the time, making sure to keep track. Her mother hadn't given any particular indication of when she'd be home, but she usually stayed out quite late. Still, eventually, the time came for Cass to leave. Pushing their luck too much wouldn't work out well. Which meant they never really got enough time together, and Rapunzel hated that. 

The two said their goodbyes at the window. 

"Thank you _so_ much for coming, Cass," Rapunzel held her hands for a moment. To Rapunzel's surprise, the other woman had been a little more affectionate on this particular day. Extra touches here and there, some hand holding, more hugs. She didn't know why, but she didn't want to ask and ruin anything. Instead, she savored every moment. "I hope I'll see you again soon?"

"You will," Cass's voice carried an air of certainty. She squeezed Rapunzel's hands gently for a second. 

After that, a few moments passed in silence. Rapunzel tried working up the courage to actually say goodbye, while not wanting Cass to leave at all. It always felt the loneliest right after she left. 

Cassandra's voice broke through the silence with the most unexpected of questions. 

"Can I kiss you?"

"What?" Too stunned, Rapunzel stared back at her, feeling what was probably all the warmth in her body move to her face. Did she just imagine that?

"Sorry, it was probably a dumb question," Cassandra averted her eyes and stepped back, pulling her hands out of Rapunzel's. "It's okay if not, obviously, maybe I just got carried away, and—"

"No! I mean, no, it's not a dumb question!" Rapunzel stepped toward Cass and took one of her hands back tentatively, hoping she didn't just ruin the moment herself and letting the words fall out of her mouth in hopes of fixing it. "Of course— yes. The answer is yes."

At hearing that, Cass lifted her hand to Rapunzel's face, and the blonde held her breath. Cass's face moved a bit closer, and she could see all the pretty details of her sincere eyes, her beautiful lashes, her faint freckles, and every other thing she'd noticed but never studied since she'd not ever been quite this close. She felt Cassandra's gentle fingertips on her cheek and in her hair, and she closed her eyes, then, on instinct, as the gap between them faded. When Cass's lips met hers, her heart fluttered, and she felt herself melt into the touch. Cass's other arm moved around her waist to pull her closer, and Rapunzel reached out to wrap her arms around the other as well. 

When their lips parted, Rapunzel felt like it was too soon. She knew she'd wanted to kiss Cass, and she knew that kissing was something people did when they were in love, but nothing could have prepared her for how _perfect_ that had been. It left her breathless, and she didn't want it to end.

"Can... we do that again?" Rapunzel twirled a bit of Cass's hair in her fingers absent-mindedly, nervous about whether she was overstepping by asking for more.

But the question made Cass smile. "Anytime," she said. 

So they did. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Any comments are hugely appreciated.


End file.
